Consultant to support the implementation of the Gates Foundation Optimizing ITN Access in Africa (OPITACA) and Catalytic Implementation Fund projects

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. At Geneva level, the Health and Care Department’s (HCD) Strategic Direction focuses on Health Systems Strengthening and WASH Systems Strengthening through four pillars: Global Health Security, Global Health Protection (UHC), Global WASH Services and Transformative Partnership.

The Global Health Protection (UHC) pillar houses and chairs the Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP), a partnership including government, private sector, faith-based and humanitarian organizations, focused on three main activities: (1) coordination of partners involved in insecticide-treated net (ITN) campaign and continuous distribution activities; (2) development of operational guidance for planning and implementing ITN distribution based on an iterative process; and (3) providing technical assistance to national malaria programmes and partners based on requests. AMP’s activities support the achievement of the WHO Global Technical Strategy (GTS) targets for high coverage and use of ITNs. AMP is a workstream within the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. Harnessing the global leadership and management systems of IFRC, AMP is uniquely positioned to support and advance country-level efforts to optimize ITN distribution and ensure that the right nets reach the right people at the right time through both campaign and continuous distribution channels.

In 2023, IFRC/AMP was awarded a Catalytic Implementation Fund (CIF) grant by the Gates Foundation with the aim to support and expand efforts towards integrated campaign digitalization through a responsive funding mechanism that will ensure strategic planning, budgeting and implementation support to enable effective deployment of the DIGIT HCM platform in three to four countries. This grant will provide an opportunity for national malaria programmes or other national disease programmes interested in adopting, adjusting or expanding campaign digitalization to apply for funding and receive a tailored package of support based on the capacity and experience in the country with digital platforms and systems. In 2026, the CIF grant was extended through the end of 2027.

In 2026, IFRC/AMP was awarded a follow-on grant to the Optimizing ITN Access in Africa (OPITACA) Project, allowing for an additional three years of focus on optimizing distribution of ITNs, improving use and reuse of digital data for planning and implementation of health campaigns and provision of capacity building and technical assistance services. This grant will be implemented alongside the Global Fund’s Grant Cycle 8 implementation, ensuring that project activities can be directly linked to programmatic adjustments and actions in malaria-endemic countries as implementation of activities with significantly reduced budgets commences, including for ITN distribution.

Overall objective

The primary objective of this consultancy is to support the IFRC/AMP malaria team, under the direction of the Lead, Malaria Programmes and the Senior Officer, OPITACA, in four areas:

• coordination and reporting for the CIF project;
• preparation of the 2027 AMP annual meetings;
• coordination and tracking of technical assistance (TA) across internal funding streams, as well as RBM;
• budget management for OPITACA 1 project close out, United Nations Foundation grant, service agreements with the Global Fund and Global Fund Principal Recipients (closing and opening) and OPITACA 2 project start up.

The consultancy will provide high-quality support to the malaria and health service delivery and operations teams for coordination, knowledge management and tracking and administration that keeps activities on schedule, on budget, and fully compliant with the specific donor and IFRC internal requirements. The consultant will work in a support capacity, within the limits set out under “Scope limitations” below.

Specific objectives & detailed tasks

Catalytic Implementation Fund project

• Support the Officer, Health Service Delivery and Operations, with preparation of monthly progress reports with a specific focus on Chad.
• Participate in monthly coordination calls related to the overall project, as well as for any ad hoc meetings organized for progress updates.

• Participate in ad hoc partner discussions on country support packages, ensuring alignment with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), WHO and other digital-health stakeholders.
• Support the Officer, Health Service Delivery and Operations, with quarterly review of the project timeline, deliverables, reporting schedule and budget against expenditure to ensure that course corrections can be taken as needed (specific focus on Chad).

• Support development of case studies and lessons learnt report for CIF supported countries.
• Undertake field missions as applicable.

2027 annual meeting preparation

• Support the identification of appropriate venues, and preparation of booking documentation, venues for the 2027 AMP and campaign digitalization annual partners meeting.
• Assist in developing, updating and monitoring the meeting budget as quotations for services are received.
• Create and manage a detailed meeting planning tracker covering tasks, owners, deadlines and budget lines.
• Support procurement processes (venue, interpretation services, printing, etc.).
• Support development of an event website or registration platform (CVENT) and monitoring of the registrations - respond to requests and challenges as applicable.
• Support resource mobilization with partners to secure contributions to meeting costs.

Support to technical assistance coordination and tracking

• Support the development of TORs or scopes of work, budgets and consultant selection analyses, and track TA deployment by country, type (modality), technical area and funding source.

• Support coordination with RBM’s Country and Regional Support Partner Committee for the deployment of technical assistance, and coordination with internal TA deployment where missions are funded through different sources.
• Support the organization of introductory calls with TA teams, national malaria programmes and partners.
• Participate in coordination calls for ITN campaigns where AMP is providing support (as relevant).
• Support the organization of the weekly AMP coordination call.

• Support the organization of the AMP TA calls.
• Support periodic report writing for funders and partners, compiling information in response to requests, updating the TA tracker, and other activities on request.

Budget management and consultant contracting

• Support the malaria team with OPITACA 1 project close out, including final financial report and narrative report, consolidation of information for deliverable reporting linked to TA and capacity building and other tasks.
• Support the malaria team with the United Nations Foundation grant, including both management of the extension period and extension of pledge periods and consultant contracts, as well as resource mobilization for new funding.
• Support the malaria team with close out or startup of service agreements with the Global Fund and Global Fund Principal Recipients.
• Support the malaria team with the OPITACA 2 project start up, including participation in discussions around year one priorities, structuring of the project workspace and budget and initial consultant contracting based on agreed priorities.

Scope inclusion and limitations

This consultant will:

• Provide support to IFRC staff (budget holders) including development of budgets, review of expenditure, revision of budgets, and support with the management of budgets in WBS.
• Provide support to IFRC staff (budget holders) for the preparation of consultant contracts and consultant travel arrangements.
• Ensure high-quality budgets, expenditure tracking, and compliance with the requirements related to consultant contracting.

The consultant will not:

• Exercise decision-making, approval or other responsibilities assigned to IFRC staff and that the arrangement complies with the applicable Guidelines for Contracting Consultants.
• Assume budget holder responsibilities and other staff management functions including:
  • act as budget holder, cost centre owner or contract owner, or substitute for an IFRC staff position;
  • approve, certify or authorize budgets, budget revisions, expenditure, payments, travel or travel advances in D365, eContracts or any other system;
  • sign contracts, purchase orders, service agreements or any other document that commits IFRC;
  • make decisions on consultant selection, fees, contract terms, venues, suppliers or TA deployment (the consultant prepares analyses, options and documentation, and decisions rest with AMP management);
  • negotiate fees or terms with consultants, suppliers or partners on behalf of IFRC;
  • represent IFRC/AMP or make commitments to the Gates Foundation, Global Fund, national malaria programmes, partners or suppliers;
  • prepare, review or process any contract, timesheet, payment or travel arrangement relating to their own consultancy;
  • share budget, contract, fee or personal data except as needed for the task, in line with IFRC data protection and confidentiality rules.

Deliverables:

CIF project

• Support periodic financial tracking and technical reports on CIF as requested by the Gates Foundation and for internal use.
• Case studies and a lessons learnt report for CIF-supported countries.

2027 annual meetings

• Timely preparation, including procurement, for the AMP and campaign digitalization annual Meeting,
• Event website or registration platform (CVENT) live, with registration reports and a log of participant queries and responses.

TA coordination and tracking

• Monthly technical discussion calls organized (agenda, invitations, presenters, logistics), with presentations and recordings posted on the AMP website.
• Technical assistance tracking across donors, types and technical areas of support provided maintained.
• AMP weekly coordination and monthly TA calls organized with presentations and recordings posted to the AMP website.

Budget management and consultant contracting

• OPITACA 1 financial report available on time
• OPITACA 2 WBS set up for year one of the project
• Service agreements (Global Fund) closed and/or opened in a timely manner for TA services, including payment of invoices issued by IFRC
• TA expenditure tracker showing burn rate, with under- or over-expenditure flagged.
• A consultant contracting and deployment tracker, updated weekly.

Alignment to the IFRC’s Strategy 2030

The Alliance for Malaria Prevention’s mandate aligns to the Federation’s Strategy 2030 as it supports the achievement of strategic aims:

• Save lives, protect livelihoods and strengthen recovery from disasters and crises
• Enable healthy and safe living.

Project objectives and outcomes:

Objective #1: Provide coordination, knowledge management, and reporting support for the OPITACA projects and the Catalytic Implementation Fund (CIF) to ensure all activities are delivered on time, within budget, and in compliance with Gates Foundation and IFRC requirements.

Desired outcomes: National malaria programmes and their partners are equipped with up-to-date guidance, operational tools and documented best practices that enable them to plan, finance and implement both campaign‐based and routine ITN distribution efficiently, closing coverage gaps and sustaining high usage levels year-round.

Support to be provided to the consultant:

The consultant will be supported by the Lead, Malaria Programmes, Senior Officer – OPITACA and Officer, AMP Country Support. Regular interaction with the Gates Foundation, Global Fund and Global Fund Principal Recipients, national malaria programmes, and implementing partners is expected.

IFRC will provide:

• Access to SharePoint, CVENT and other digital platforms
• Official email, templates, and branding guidelines
• Administrative support for travel and procurement approvals

Time allocation, for budget purposes

The consultancy is for a four-to-five-month period, with the expected level of effort at 20 – 22 days per month. Initial contracting will be for a period of 30 days to assess the consultant’s capacity to achieve the deliverables defined in the TOR. Upon successful demonstration of consultant capacity, the contract would be extended through the end of March 2027.

This budget is based on an estimate of 30 billable working days at CHF 300 per day.

The consultancy timeframe will be from 16 November 2026 to 31 March 2027

This consultancy contract includes some travel.

Notes

• The consultant will be contracted by the IFRC and the standard contractual terms will apply.

• An advanced university degree in public health, global health, international development, project management, social sciences, business administration, finance or a related field.
• A first university degree in one of these fields, combined with at least two additional years of relevant professional experience, may be accepted instead of an advanced degree.

• Relevant professional experience in project coordination, grants management, programme support or technical assistance in global health, public health, humanitarian or international development settings.
• Experience supporting the implementation of donor-funded projects, including narrative and financial reporting to the Gates Foundation, the Global Fund or donors with similar requirements.
• Experience in grant and project budget management, including budget development and revision, expenditure tracking, burn-rate monitoring, and grant close-out and start-up.
• Experience supporting technical assistance or consultant recruitment and contracting, including drafting ToRs or scopes of work, preparing selection analyses, and tracking consultant deployment and expenditure across multiple funding sources.
• Experience in meeting and event coordination, including venue sourcing, procurement support, budget monitoring, logistics and participant management.
• Strong documentation and knowledge management skills, including developing trackers, case studies or lessons-learnt reports.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines at the same time with limited supervision.
• Willingness and availability to travel, including to programme countries.
• Prior experience supporting malaria or ITN campaign implementation, digital health or health campaign digitalization projects.
• Experience with ERP and grant systems (for example D365 or WBS structures) and with event registration platforms such as CVENT.

• Fluent / excellent written and spoken English and French are required - mandatory.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is mandatory; familiarity with digital collaboration and registration platforms is an advantage.